Pumpkin Fun!

For Family Home Evening this week we all carved pumpkins! The kids had a great time cleaning out their pumpkins, creating their own designs, and even doing their own carving!

Lindsey's favorite part was cleaning out the pumpkin guts! (Last year just the idea of having to put her hand inside the pumpkin had her in tears!)

Ryland is carefully designing his layout ...

Lindsey's pumpkin has a fencing sword for its nose and mouth!

Ryland loved carving his pumpkin! He still insists that he's not done. If we let him finish, I don't think there will be much pumpkin left ...

The kids' "mostly" finished pumpkins ...

The kids' pumpkins with their "spooky" lights!

Mom and Dad carved pumpkins, too! Chuck designed that shark all on his own! No premade stencil for him!

The finished products with light! All 5 pumpkins are now being proudly displayed on our front porch!

A Father-Son Camping Trip

Ryland had been begging Chuck for weeks to take him camping. Since last weekend was fairly mild, Chuck decided to take Ryland on a father-son campout (Lindsey and I were too chicken to endure the cold night - Lindsey actually got to spend the night at her Grandma Hale's house and I had my first night alone in about 12 years! : ). On the way out of our neighborhood, Chuck talked to the Scoutmaster of our ward and was convinced to join the scouts on their camping trip in the hills just above our neighborhood. Ryland was so excited (as you can tell from the size of his smile in the above picture)! The scouts now call him their "Littlest Scout" and Ryland has a few new heroes ...

Ryland is one of the scouts ...

This is a cougar track they found in their campsite (that's a 4-inch knife!). Somewhere in the mountains above our neighborhood is a very big cat.

Fun in the Canyon with Cousins

Last week Chuck and I decided to take the kids to Bridalveil Falls in Provo Canyon. Sam and Sarah came along with Kaylee, Ginger, and Chloe. We got there kind of late - just before dark - so we didn't actually make it up to the falls but found a nice spot to have dinner and Family Home Evening together. The kids were able to ride their bikes and scooters a bit and had a great time playing in the leaves. It's wonderful to have family close by to be able to do something like this spur of the moment!

Fun With Rockets

Chuck and the kids had a blast shooting rockets at a nearby park. Ryland got a rocket for his birthday in September and they had so much fun shooting it that Chuck picked up a 2nd one when he bought new engines. Unfortunately, the 2nd rocket didn't quite work as expected ... It didn't separate the way it was supposed to and ended up half-imbedded in the ground!

Ryland's Field Trip

Ryland's preschool class was able to go on a field trip to Corn Belly's Corn Maze and Pumpkin Fest. It was a combined activity for all 4 Little Tyke preschool classes (two 3-year-old classes and two 4-year-old classes). Despite the obvious chaos of any activity involving so many kids, they all had a really great time. Ryland especially loved the slides, the cow train, and the bouncing area - not to mention being able to pick his own pumpkin!

Lindsey's Fencing Classes

Lindsey has been taking beginning fencing classes and is absolutely loving them! We signed her up for 6 classes and so far she has completed 3 of them. She even wants to be a fencer for Halloween!

Here goes ...

We've had a lot of people tell us that we should start blogging ... So, here goes! Just remember that we're new at this and will probably make a lot of mistakes!